Every homeschooling parent runs into "blocking" at some point or another. For some of us, it's a daily run-in.

Here are some Mediated Learning methods you can use to stop a "blocking attitude" in learning. Whether Blocking takes on the form of "I hate this. I don't want to do this", pretend ignorance or silent refusal to move forward, here are 5 ways to get past a Block.

1. Why are you saying that?

Ask questions.

I know, I know. It's redundant of me to say it, because I say this all the time on my blog. But really, it is the foundation.

Ask questions.

Find out why they think they can't accomplish the task. Learn why they are so adamantly opposed to it.

Asking questions let's you get to the heart of the issue.

Sample questions:

Why are you saying that you hate this assignment?

What is the biggest challenge to this task?

Tell me what you understand about this? Can you tell me what doesn't make sense to you?

2. Be a Rapper

That is...break it down.

Ask the question, "Do you think that we could break this problem down into smaller parts?"

Rather than tackling the issue all at once, try grouping or chunking information together. Once the problem is in smaller pieces, tackle one piece at a time.

3. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.- African Proverb

Let's solve the biggest part of the problem together, and then you can handle the rest of it

How about I write for the first two minutes while you talk out loud?

This seems to be a challenge. Tell you what, let's go get something to drink and brainstorm some ideas to solve it.

4. If you can't take the Heat, Get out of the Kitchen...or the Living Room

Change your scenery.

Sometimes a change of scene, a deep breath of fresh air, or a visual vacation that lasts for two minutes is enough to calm the nerves and give new perspective.

Come back to the "ol' drawing board" and start again. Only this time, follow rule #1, and get to the heart of the issue.

5. Don't Keep it a Secret

Talk to your kids about Blocking. Tell them what blocking is. Ask them if they know how they typically block when they come to a crisis or problem.

Share with them what happens what Blocking looks like for you.

ie. A while back whenever I came to a problem or needed to make a decision, I would "block" by running around getting everyone's advice and tell everyone my problems. And while getting advice is good, I actually used this to delay making decisions and felt that if I made the wrong decision I could blame others for it. I had to learn to turn to God, and to trust His word to lead me and guide me. I also had to learn who I actually let speak into my life.

Be transparent about the ways you Block and handle stress or problems. Tell them about the skills that you've had to acquire to overcome blocking.

God doesn't expect perfection from us, but He does expects sincerity. Your children will be blessed to have the same.

We opened up a watermelon and found that it was a bit past it's prime. So we decided to puree it and make it into watermelon ice cream

Then we danced

and read

and sang songs

and talked about The Sign of the Beaver book

and then inspiration took place when folding the dinner napkins

The napkins became the perfect bandanas. And thus was born The Adventures of The Bandana Bunch. Bandana Bob, Bandana Brad, Bandana Ben work together to conquer the West...On their kitchen broom horse named Bandana Broom

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Did you know that they have a day set aside for that? No? Well, you do now!

Make a note of it and put on your calendar.

Today I celebrated by doing housework.

I know, such a rebel am I.

A rule-breaker.

A rebel-without-a-good-sense-of-timing.

But if you read yesterday's post, you would understand that I've been celebrating this no-cleaning-allowed day for three days now. And you can only celebrate so long until something under the couch starts to smell and you are down to your last clean pair of unmentionables.

And so, today we did laundry.

(Quick side trip: Does anyone else find it ironic that unmentionables are called 'unmentionables'. Isn't the whole idea not to mention them? Surely, I am not alone in this. There are others who have thought this, right?

Monday, April 4, 2011

Ok, so this morning I woke up at my friend's house. She and her hubby are off on an adventure for the day.

Naturally, as a responsible friend I felt it only right to start the day with marshmallows.

I found some marshmallows in the cupboard. i located the toothpicks and said, "Hey, look what I found." Then I left them on the table. Within a few minutes I had some interested minds working at the table.

bridges, houses, extensions and pyramids were built

and then dismantled and eaten

I noticed the Rice Krispies in the cupboard and thought, "Hey, I know what to do! Let's make nests."

I had this brilliant idea to use plastic egg cups to help form the impressions in the nest. Folks, that doesn't work. Save yourself some time. Just use your hands and form them.

And then...a whole lot fo mayhem and foolishness was going on with some wild dancing, tag-like game

making new friends

many requests for food (didn't we just eat???)

Chasing Lucy the cat

stencil art

marshmallow eating

Blue Fairy book stories at www.librivox.org

Human Body book

fridge magnet letter fun

and chasing Lucy the cat

circuits

trampoline fun

feeding rabbits

discussions about the wind

magnet filing magic

I gave my little buddy some paint, strings and marbles. I set him up on the floor and said, "Have at it!" It was so amazing to watch him create. Here he is rolling marbles in paint. Move over Jackson Pollock

splatter paint by my girl

Sparkly human figure drawing

sticker art

And as time went on, my little buddy expanded his art efforts and tied a string to the paintbrush and swung it back and forth to create new designs

watermelon

a talk about composting

questions

more Librivox

chemistry explorations

more painting

tag

and chasing Lucy the cat

We start cooking up part two to this morning's brilliant plan

My little buddy got into drawing in a big way. He made a street and then put the cars on the road. He glued them on it. I should probably let his mother know.